Global Civil Society & the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Gender Equality


Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. There has been progress over the last decades, but the world is not on track to achieve gender equality by 2030.

Women and girls represent half of the world’s population and therefore also half of its potential. But gender inequality persists everywhere and stagnates social progress.
On average, women in the labor market still earn 23 percent less than men globally and women spend about three times as many hours in unpaid domestic and care work as men.

Sexual violence and exploitation, the unequal division of unpaid care and domestic work, and discrimination in public office, all remain huge barriers. All these areas of inequality have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic: there has been a surge in reports of sexual violence, women have taken on more care work due to school closures, and 70% of health and social workers globally are women.

At the current rate, it will take an estimated 300 years to end child marriage, 286 years to close gaps in legal protection and remove discriminatory laws, 140 years for women to be represented equally in positions of power and leadership in the workplace, and 47 years to achieve equal representation in national parliaments.

Political leadership, investments and comprehensive policy reforms are needed to dismantle systemic barriers to achieving Goal 5 Gender equality is a cross-cutting objective and must be a key focus of national policies, budgets and institutions.

Name Acronym Founded City HQ Country/Territory HQ Type I Type II

World Free Zones Organization

World FZO 2014 Dubai United Arab Emirates C

World Health Innovation Summit

WHIS Carlisle UK J

World Health Organization

WHO 1946 Geneva Switzerland B g

World in Need

WIN International Associates 1991 Crowborough UK G

World Indigenous Tourism Alliance

WINTA 2012 Porirua New Zealand C

World Information Transfer

WIT 1986 New York NY USA F

World Inspiring Network

WIN 2016 Accra Ghana G

World Interdisciplinary Network for Institutional Research

WINIR 2013 Coventry UK F

World Jewish Congress

WJC 1936 New York NY USA C y

World Kabaddi Federation

WKF 2004 D

World Kashmir Freedom Movement

WKFM 1990 F

World League for Freedom and Democracy

WLFD 1966 Taipei Taiwan F y

World Libertarian Order

WLO 1983 N v

World March of Women

WMW Sao Paulo Brazil F

World Martial Arts Union

WoMAU 2002 Chungju Korea Rep C

World Merit

Liverpool UK J

World Minigolf Sport Federation

WMF 1980 Bamberg Germany C

World Mountain People Association

WMPA 2001 Paris France C

World Neighbors

WN 1951 Oklahoma City OK USA G v

World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry

WNUSP 1991 Odense Denmark B

World Order Models Project

WOMP 1966 F v

World Organization of the Scout Movement

WOSM 1907 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia B

World Organization of United Cities and Local Governments

UCLG 2004 Barcelona Spain B

World ORT

WO 1880 London UK C

World Peace Council

WPC 1950 Athens Greece B

World Pickleball Federation

WPF C

World Pulse

Portland OR USA G

World Renew

1962 Burlington ON Canada G

World Rowing

1892 Lausanne Switzerland B y

World Sailing

1907 London UK B y

World Scout Bureau

WSB 1920 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia K

World Shiology Forum

WSF 2017 Beijing China J

World Silambam Association

WSA 1999 Petaling Jaya Malaysia G

World Society of Victimology

WSV 1979 Holden Hill SA Australia C

World Squash Federation

WSF 1966 Hastings UK B y

World Taekwondo

1973 Seoul Korea Rep B

World Textile Art

WTA 1997 Doral FL USA J

World Trade Organization

WTO 1995 Geneva Switzerland B gt

World Union of Catholic Women's Organisations

WUCWO 1910 Rome Italy B

World University Service

WUS 1920 Wiesbaden Germany B

World Values Survey Association

WVSA 1981 Vienna Austria C

World Women Inventors and Entrepreneurs Association

WWIEA 2008 Seoul Korea Rep C

World Women's Security Council

WWSC J p

World Womens' Snooker

WWS 1981 Wisbech UK D

World Young Women's Christian Association

World YWCA 1855 Le Grand-Saconnex Switzerland B

World Youth Empowerment Foundation

WYEF Adelaide SA Australia N f

World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union

WWCTU 1883 Melbourne VIC Australia B

WorldFish

1975 Bayan Lepas Malaysia E

WorldGranny

2004 Amsterdam Netherlands G

Worldwide Association of Women Forensic Experts

WAWFE Reggio Calabria Italy C

Pages